Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Starman

Starman, a bulky masked wrestler who could go heel or baby, depending on how the promoter wanted him to be used, appeared in Utah, Japan, Arizona, California and Mexico in the early 1990s.

In his Arizona matches, some of Starman's opponents included Stephen de Leon, Steve Gator Wolf, Louie Spicolli, JT Law and Zodiac. His finisher was a tremendous flying elbow smash that could have made Randy Savage or Dusty Rhodes envious.

Starman was pushed big by Gator Wolf when he ran the Indian Reservations in the far north of Arizona and south of Utah, but there was no love lost between the two in the end, as Starman evidently was shafted on his pay. With Gator Wolf now in prison for sex crimes, Starman has indicated he has not forgotten the issues of old and has been blatantly running down the promoter both for his arrest and for past shortchanging on the cards where he worked. Evidently, Gator Wolf was not well-liked by his crew and the wrestlers made fun of him behind his back even then. Wrestlers never have been a forgiving lot.

The cartoon on the board in this picture, though hard to see, offers an unflattering picture of Gator Wolf drawn by the late Louie Spicolli, with quotes Gator Wolf was always spouting off. Starman points contemptuously at the photo here.

The irony is, Gator Wolf and Starman did have some very good matches.

On the other hand, Starman offers great respect for Louie Spicolli and Stephen de Leon, both of whom are deceased.

Now unmasked and retired, both from the ring and a day time job, Starman lives quietly in
Phoenix, except when you get him going on Gator Wolf. Then, the old vocal style returns in full form.